Convicted murderer, 55, dies at the Maine State Prison

An inmate serving a 30-year sentence for murdering his mother died at the Maine State Prison in Warren, the state Department of Corrections reported Thursday.

Kenneth McDonald, 55, of Monmouth died Thursday around 11 a.m., the department said in a new release. His death was not related to COVID-19, the department said.

McDonald was sentenced in September 2010 for stabbing and beating his mother. They shared a home in Monmouth. McDonald said at his sentencing hearing that he killed her after she refused to allow him to take a vacation alone on the Maine coast.

“This happened because I wanted to prove to my mother I could do something on my own. I tried to convince her. I couldn’t,” McDonald told the judge. “I wish I could take it back.”

The Maine Attorney General’s Office and the state Medical Examiner’s Officer were notified of McDonald’s death.